Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-04-25

know that 1t Is the ouly place WUere they
can learn to be successful sailors. It is
only under drill that people get to under
stand pilOtage and navigation, and l want
you to understand that it takes no more
skill 80 conduct vessel out of the mar
Dor and across the sea than to steer a
commercial establishment clear of the
rocks. You see every day the folly
OF people going into business
they know nothing about. A
man makes a fortune in one business;
thinks there is another occupation
more comfortable; goes into it and sinks
all. Many of the commercial establish
ments of our cities are giving to their
clerks mercantile education as thorough
as Yale or Hazard or Princeton are CIV
ing scientific attainments to the students
matriculated.T The reason there are so many
men laundering in business from year to
year is because their early mercantile ed
ucation was neglected. Ask these men
high in commercial circles and they will
tell you they thank God for this severe dis
ctpline of their early clerkship. You can
afford to endure the wilderness march if
it is going to end in the vineyards and
orchards of the promised land. But you
say, "Will the womanly clerks in our
stores have promotion ?" Yes; time is
coming when women will be as well paid
for their toll in mercantile circles as men
are now paid for their toll. Time is COM
ing when woman will be allowed to do
anything she can do well. It is only
little while ago when women knew moth
ing of telegraphy, and they were kept out
of a great many commercial circles where
they are now welcome; and the time will
90 on until the woman who at one COun-
ter in the store sells $4,000 worth of
goods in a year will get as high salary
as the man who at the other counter of
the store sells $40 900 worth of goods.
Ali honor to Lydia, the Christian saleswo-
man. And, in passing, l may as well
say that you merchants who have women
clerks in your stores ought to treat them
with great courtesy and kindness. When
they are not positively engaged let them
sit down. In England and the United
States physicians have protested against
the habit of compelling the WomanlY
clerks in the stores to stand when it was
not necessary for them to stand. There
fore, l add to the protest of physicians
the protest of the Christian church, and in
the name of good health and that God who
has made the womanly constitution more
delicate than mans, | demand that you
let her sit down.
The second counsel l have to give to
the clerks who are here to-day, is that
you seek out what are the lawful regula-
tiOns of your establishment and then SUD-
nit to them. Every well ordered house
has it's usages. In military life,
on ships deck, in commercial life, there
must be order and discipline. Those peo-
! pie who do not learn how to obey will
never know how to command. will tell
! you what young man will reach ruin, ii
nanCial and moral: it is the young man
who thrusts MS thumb into his vest and
says: 'NobOdy shall dictate to me;
am my own master; l will not submit to
the regulations OF this house" Between
an establishment in which all the en-
| ployes are under thorough discipline and
! the establishment in which the employees
! do about as they choose, is the difference
( between success and faiIure-betWeen
! rapid accumulation and utter bank
ruptcy. Do not cone to the store ten
minutes after the time. Be there within
two seconds after. Do not think any
! thing too insignificant TO do we'll Do not
! say: "It's only just once From the
most important transaction in commerce
down to the particular style in which you
]
| ders. Do not get easily disguised.
While others in the store may lounge, or
| fret, or complain. you go with ready
! hands, and cheerful face, and contented
! spirit to your work. When the bugle
! sounds, the good soldier asks no Ques-
tions, but shoulders his knapsack, fills
! his Canteen and listens for the command
| of "marCh!" Do not get the idea that
| your interests and those of your employer
are sntagonistiC. His success will be
! your honor. His embarrassment will be
your dismey. Expose none of the frail
| ties of the firm. Tell no
store secrets. Do not blab Re
duff those persons who come 10
find out from clerks what ought never be
| known outside the store. Do not be
among those young men who take on a
mysterious air when something is said
against the firm that employs them, as
much as to say: 81 could tell you some
things if I would, but I won't" Do not
| be among those who imagine they can
build themselves up by pulling somebody
! else down. Be not ashamed to be
suba,tern.
Again: l counsel clerks in this house
! to search out what are the unlawful and
dishonest demands of an establishment,
and resist them. In the 5000 years that
| have passed, there has never been an oc-
casion when it was ones duty to sin
| against God. 1t is never right to do
wrong. If the head men of the firm ex-
pect of you dishonesty, dissppoint them.
49," you say, 81 should lose my place
then" Better lose your place than lose
your soul. But you will not lose your
place. Christian heroism is always hon
| ored. You go 10 the head man OF your
store, and say: "Sir, want to serve
you; want to oblige you; it is from no
| lack of industry on my part, but this
| thing seems to me to be wrong, and it is
sin against my conscience, it Is a sin
against God, and / beg you, sir, to
excuse me" He may flush up and swear,
| but he will cool down, and he will have
more admIration for you than for those
who submit to his evil dictation; and
while they sink, you will rise. Do not,
| because of seeming temporary advan-
tage, give up your character, young man.
! Under God, that is the only thing you
have to build on. Give up that, you give
| nm everything That emDlOVer asks g